Water for the Daffodils
by Moxified
Summary: Hermione Granger is back in Hogwarts for her final year, but everything is different. Her best friends are no longer by her side, and Hogwarts no longer feels like home. The war changed everything and everyone, her most of all. How will she cope with being alone for the first time in six years? The answer lies in a certain former Death Eater hoping to atone for his sins. On Hiatus?
1. Chapter 1 : Anemone

**Chapter 1 : Anemone**

She gazed up at the old stone castle, a myriad of emotion flashing before her eyes. The cold Scottish breeze brought back memories that she hoped would never fade; a talking Hat whispering into her ear, being awoken from a stony slumber, midnight flying on a magical beast, a winter night on the arm of a dashing boy, her first battle, the death of a great man, the beginning of a war, the embrace of her first love, the end of a war, the death of an evil man, the end of an era, and now, the beginning of a new story.

"Hermione Granger, why am I not surprised?" said an amused voice from behind her. She turned to face him, a brilliant smile on her face. He was so much different than the first moment she met him. Gone was the shy, clumsy, stuttering boy, in front of her stood a charming, decorated young war hero.

"Hey, Neville." she said, throwing her arms around him, "Long time no see."

"That's your fault. You haven't shown your face since the ceremony after the battle." said Neville, "Well, aren't you going in?"

She turned to face Hogwarts castle once more. "It's my first time seeing it again. They did a good job with the restoration."

"Yeah, McGonagall didn't leave a stone out of place." he said, "How've you been, Hermione?"

"Fine, I've been fine." she said, "How's Luna?"

"She's great!" he said brightly at the mere thought of his girlfriend, "She's out of the country actually — Nicaragua this time, off hunting some seven-eyed tree toad of some sort."

Hermione smiled, fondly remembering the wide eyed girl.

"Come on, Hermione, they should be waiting for us." said Neville, taking the bag she held in her hand.

"Oh, Nev, you don't need to do that." she said, trying to wrestle it back.

"It's fine, Hermione. I want to." he said, "So Harry really isn't coming back?"

"No, he's all set at the Ministry." she said, as they passed a familiar gargoyle that she swore had been blown away at some point during the war. "He actually started Auror training a few weeks ago."

"And Ron?"

Hermione quieted. The temperature suddenly seemed to have dropped, and Neville swore inwardly at his thoughtlessness. "I'm sorry, Mione, forget I asked."

"No, it's alright." she said, giving him a pained smile, "I think he's following Harry. I haven't really heard anything about him since, er …"

"Yeah." said Neville awkwardly.

"There you two are!" The pair almost sighed in relief at the interruption. They turned to find a frazzled looking McGonagall walking towards them. The present Headmistress did not look any different from when Hermione had last seen her, although she seemed to be a tiny bit more stressed.

"The rest of the students are walking to my office as we speak." she said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders to lead the way, "Quickly now, wouldn't want them to wait."

Hermione's chest filled with a heavy feeling of dread as they followed the grey haired professor through the halls, their footsteps echoing throughout the castle.

"In you go." said the professor, allowing the two to proceed before her. Neville went first, sensing her hesitation. Hermione glanced around the room, no major changes had been made since the last time she had been there, the portraits of old headmasters still adorned the walls. She avoided looking at the last portraits, knowing that the sight of the final two would only trouble her more.

Looking around, she counted at least twenty students, some sitting others standing by the sides, but all sharing similar looks of confusion. The expression was most likely painted on her face too. For the hundredth time that day, she wondered whether this was a good idea.

"Now that you're all here, we may begin." said McGonagall, who had taken her seat behind her desk. "As you all know, not everyone has chosen to retake this year of schooling. After the war, it was decided that the education provided last year was not up to par with our usual standard." Hermione almost snorted. _'Not up to par.'_ was putting it lightly. With everything that happened in the previous year — especially with the Carrows running amuck, the students were too busy fighting for their safety rather than studying.

"The board has decided that all students are required to retake the previous year. But, of course not everyone was entirely on board with the idea. This year, the seventh years have decreased in number greatly. Counting all the students, your class will be composed of eighteen students entirely. This being so, we have decided that you are all to take your classes together."

McGonagall handed a pile of parchment to Seamus Finnegan, who was sitting the closest to her. "This is your schedule for the year. I sincerely hope that everyone here puts aside their differences, and act accordingly. The younger students all look up to you, so I do hope you set a good example."

The group responded with tentative nods. "That is all for now, the rest of the school will be arriving tomorrow. Use this time to get settled in. The dormitories have all been rebuilt, so you shouldn't have any trouble locating them. You're all dismissed."

As soon as they stepped into the hall, a pair of arms wrapped around Hermione tightly. She tensed instantly, before reminding herself that it was just a hug. Whoever it was didn't seem to notice.

"Hermione, it's so good to see you!" exclaimed Parvati Patil chirpily, releasing her from the embrace, "It feels like we haven't talked in forever."

"Yeah, it sure does." she said awkwardly. She and Parvati had never been quite close, despite being roommates. Parvati had always been stuck to Lavender Brown like glue, the two being the best of friends. Hermione's heart constricted at the memory of the perky blonde. Although she had irked her more than once over the years, the absence of her smiling face next to Parvati felt like something was missing.

"How have you been?" said the other girl with a friendly grin.

"Alright, I think." said Hermione. "And you?"

"I've been — coping." she said sadly, "It's been tough, but I don't think she'd be happy if I went around moping all the time, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." choked Hermione, "I'm sorry, Parvati."

"Don't be." the girl said, "Now come on, we have some catching up to do. It's just the two of us now, roomie."

The group of Gryffindors made their way through the castle exchanging pleasantries. Seamus and Dean, the other two who had chosen to come back were loudly arguing about Quidditch, with Neville interjecting at certain points of the conversation.

"It's as if nothing's happened, isn't it?" said Parvati, catching Hermione gazing around the halls.

"Yes." she said, "They did a wonderful job in the restoration."

"I hate it, in a way." the girl said solemnly. "It's as if everything's been washed away. Forgotten."

Hermione's grip tightened around the handle of her bag. "We'll _never_ forget. We can't."

"We can't." Parvati agreed.

" _Semper Fortis._ " said Neville, as they stood in front of the Fat Lady.

"Rightly so." she said, before swinging open.

Even the common room, Hermione noted, looked as if nothing had changed. The chess set was still perched on top of the coffee table in one corner of the room, awaiting its next game, the fire was burning warmly in the hearth, welcoming them, and the room smelled of oak, sandalwood and smoke, a smell only the Gryffindor commons seemed to have.

"It's good to be back." said Dean, dropping his bag by the sofa and stretching.

"I'll go check our room." said Hermione, suddenly feeling tired.

"I'll go with you." said Parvati, quickly following her up the stairs to the girls dormitories.

The room seemed bigger than what they were accustomed to, but that was mostly because before, where there were five beds now stood two, on opposite ends of the room.

"Do you want the one by the window?" asked Hermione.

"No, you take it." the other girl said warmly.

They both settled into silence, putting their things away. Just when Hermione thought she should say something to alleviate the awkward tension in the room, Parvati spoke.

"How are you really, Hermione?" she said.

"I— I told you — I'm fine." Hermione said, stumbling over the words in surprise.

"You can't fool me, Hermione." the girl said sternly. "I know we've never been close, but I've lived in the same room as you for six years. You've been out of it the whole day."

The realization that someone had seen right through her struck her like lightning. The curly haired girl's resolve came tumbling down in an instant. It was as if Parvati had opened the flood gates and everything came pouring out. All the anxiety, and doubt, and fear that she held deep in her chest about returning back to Hogwarts spilled out, leaving her a teary, sobbing mess.

Parvati came rushing to her side, tears also spilling down her face, and engulfed her friend into another hug.

"I'm sorry." choked Hermione, through her sobs.

"Don't be." shushed the other girl.

"It just feels so awful. I can _see_ them. I — It hurts to be here. _I don't know what I'm supposed to do._ It hurts so much."

"I know." said Parvati, the pain threaded tightly in her voice, "I know."

* * *

a/n:

I did it. I started on another story before finishing my first one. But I was itching for a change of pace. OCC Hermione tires me out when I'm writing in her perspective. I just wanted something else for a change. This new fic is more on the sad side, less intense, less fighting, and more focus on the characters starting a new life after the war. I always wanted to know what happened to them after everything. I mean, they're still kids in a way right? I cant imagine being sixteen and already witnessing so much. Regarding the weird chapter names, I'm playing with flower symbolism, which I've always found interesting — and Hermione is actually a type of flower! So, yeah, we'll see how this turns out. Fingers crossed!


	2. Chapter 2 : Ivy

**Chapter 2 : Ivy**

"He _what_?" Parvati screeched, looking aghast.

"Yeah, when everything was over and the excitement from the war had died down he admitted that he only kissed me because he was afraid he was going to die." said Hermione, choking back another sob. "I was in love with him for years, too."

She and Parvati had been sitting on the floor for who knows how long, as she spilled her heart out to the other girl. It was the first time Hermione had said anything about it to anyone other than Harry.

"I _knew_ that boy was bad news!" said Parvati. "I kept telling Lavender that he didn't really love her, but she wouldn't listen. Now look what he's done to you."

"I just thought he felt the same way." admitted Hermione embarrassedly. "But it was probably just because we were alone together for so long."

"Don't make excuses for him!" admonished Parvati, "Harry didn't go and try to kiss you, now did he?"

"Ron's the least of my problems." she sighed. "I just don't know how to deal with everything. The Prophet's been at it for months trying to get me to do interviews — they won't leave me alone. But I just can't bring myself to talk about the war. I don't like remembering. I could've done more — I could have saved more people, saved Lavender —"

"No, you couldn't have." said Parvati sadly, "You did what you could, Hermione, nobody blames you for not being able to save everyone."

"That's what Harry told me too." she said. "But the thought just keeps me up at night. I barely get any sleep, and when I do I wake up screaming. Everyone has nightmares these days, I know, but every time I close my eyes I see her — B-bellatrix — smiling at me and I just —"

"It's alright." said Parvati soothingly, patting her shoulder gently, "We'll get through this together."

"Merlin, I'm sorry, Parvati. I just spilled all this to you." she said, wiping her eyes angrily.

"You can talk to me anytime, Hermione." said the girl kindly, "We need to stick together. The war took its toll on everyone, but you three had it the worst. It's the least I can do."

"Thanks, Parvati." said Hermione, trying to smile, "You can talk to me anytime, too."

"Thank you. Now come on and help me with this." the girl stood up suddenly, to stand next to her bed, bringing out her wand.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Moving my bed closer to yours." said Parvati, "Padma and I get nightmares every once in a while too, I find it calming when I can hear her breathing next to me. And, this way, if you ever get nightmares, I can hear it and wake you up."

The witch uttered a spell, levitating the four poster bed closer to Hermione's until they were about just a meter apart. Hermione smiled gratefully. In the past months, she had barely spoken to anyone, choosing to hide herself in her parents' old house and deal with everything by herself. But now, with Parvati extending her hand to help, Hermione suddenly felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Maybe returning to Hogwarts wasn't going to be that bad after all.

* * *

"Good morning." said Hermione as the rest of the Gryffindors approached the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. The seventh years had just begun trickling in for breakfast, unlike her, who had been awake for the past three hours.

"Morning, Mione." said Neville, taking a seat in front of her. "How long have you been up?"

"Since around 6 o'clock." she said breezily, "I took a walk around the grounds."

"That's nice." he said, scooping up a bowl of porridge for himself.

"Morning." someone said from behind her. Neville looked over Hermione's shoulder to find Ernie Macmillan, Justine Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones , and Hannah Abott standing behind her.

"Hullo, Hannah." said Neville, brow raised.

"Would you mind terribly if we share a table? It feels extremely lonely when its just the four of us." said Hannah shyly.

"Of course not," said Neville with a kind smile, "Take a seat."

Hannah grinned happily at the invitation, and the Hufflepuffs settled themselves amongst the lions, with Hannah and Susan sitting next to Parvati, who was on Hermione's right, and the two boys taking seats across them.

"The castle seems huge when it's just us, doesn't it?" said Susan conversationally.

"I know, and it's so quiet, too." agreed Dean, biting into a piece of toast.

"What do you guys plan on doing until the lower years come?" asked Hannah.

"The boys and I are planning a game of pick-up Quidditch. You guys are welcome to join us." said Neville.

"Since when do you play Quidditch, Nev?" Hermione inquired, remembering that Neville usually accompanied her by the sidelines during Quidditch matches.

"Er, I played with Harry quite a bit over the summer." he said bashfully.

"I'm up for a game." said Susan chirpily.

"Me too!" said Hannah.

"I don't really play." Parvati said shyly. "I guess I'll just watch. What about you Hermione?"

The group smiled warmly at her, as if urging her to join them. "I'll watch. You guys know I'm an accident waiting to happen on a broom."

The Gryffindors laughed in agreement.

"Wait, we're an odd number." said Seamus with a frown. "With the five us and the two of you, we're missing a player."

"Count us three in, then!" came a voice. They turned to the entrance of the Hall to find that the Ravenclaws had appeared. Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Padma Patil, and Lisa Turpin approached the table. "Mind if we take a seat?" Boot said.

"Not at all." said Parvati smiling charmingly at the boy, making Hermione raise a brow in intrigue.

"She's been fawning over him for years." whispered Padma, as the other Patil twin took a seat next to her.

"I have _not_." huffed Parvati, although the faint pink tinge in her cheeks suggested otherwise.

"That makes us ten!" said Seamus, holding said amount of fingers.

"Glad you're great at maths, mate." chuckled Dean, earning a thump over the head from his friend.

"So, do you guys know where the rest of the class is?" inquired Anthony over his pumpkin juice, "The ones who didn't return, I mean."

"Quite a lot of them moved out the country, I heard." said Ernie. "Hopkins moved to America, so did Eloise Midgen, I think."

"I know Mandy Brocklehurst and Stephen Cornfoot are in Beauxbaton's now." piped up Lisa.

"The others just didn't want to repeat another year of school, I reckon." said Seamus, through a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "Me mam forced me into it really. Didn't mind comin' back, but I could've gotten a job instead."

"I heard Fay Dunbar's working at Fortescue's now that it's open again." said Michael.

"Yeah, I saw her a bit over the summer when I worked part time at the Leaky." said Hannah.

"By the way, what are we going to do about _them_?" whispered Anthony, discretely pointing to the new arrivals to the Great Hall. A table over, at the Slytherin table, a quiet group of four students had taken their seats. Hermione recognized Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis, who were both rumored to have been neutral throughout the war, but what was most surprising to her were the faces of Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott. The two had been released from Azkaban after they had been pardoned for their crimes.

The Ministry had taken into account that the boys were underage when they had been initiated as Death Eaters, letting them off with a hefty bail instead of having the two boys serve time. Although Draco Malfoy had a little help from the outside to loosen the shackles the Ministry had placed on him — and it wasn't the kind of help the wizarding world had expected.

The week before the Malfoy family was set to face the Wizengamot, Harry had sought her out to ask for her advice. To her surprise, her best friend had been troubled about whether or not he should speak as a witness for the young Malfoy and his mother. Harry knew that Draco hadn't wanted to kill Dumbledore, he saw him lower his wand right before he was supposed to kill him. And Narcissa Malfoy had practically saved his life when she had lied to the Dark Lord about him being dead.

Hermione had told him that he should do what he thought was right, and a week later, the world was in an uproar upon hearing Harry Potter speak for the two Malfoys. Narcissa Malfoy was pardoned entirely, for she didn't bear the Mark of the Dark Lord in the first place, and pleaded to being forced by her husband. Draco Malfoy after much discussion, was also pardoned, along with his friend, Theodore Nott, who himself admitted to being forced into his initiation by his father.

"What do you mean, Anthony?" asked Neville, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"Malfoy and Nott." hissed Anthony, "They shouldn't even be here."

"They were pardoned." said Neville blankly.

"Yes, but they're still Death Eaters!" said Anthony. "Tell 'em Hermione."

The group all turned to face her, and it took all she could not to shrink at the attention. "They _were_ Death Eaters." she said softly, "I know that they haven't been the best of people, Malfoy most of all, but they were pardoned, even Harry spoke up for them. I think it's best if we don't cause any trouble."

"B-but …" stuttered the Ravenclaw.

"You heard her." said Neville, "The war's over, aren't you tired of fighting?"

Hermione smiled at her friend sadly, agreeing entirely with his words. "It's a time to rebuild." she said.

"That's right." said Parvati encouragingly. "We can't let ourselves dwell on the war."

"We can't just _forget_." sputtered Anthony.

" _We won't."_ said Hermione, suddenly fierce, "We won't forget, but we should learn to forgive."

"Hermione, they wanted to _kill_ muggles and muggleborns — people like you."

"I know." she said, "It isn't easy seeing them, but what can we do? Maybe they really are sorry for everything."

Anthony snorted into his drink, "Draco Malfoy would never apologize."

"Maybe." she said, her gaze falling on the Slytherin table, where the blonde was sitting, whispering something to Daphne Greengrass. He looked different from the last time she'd seen him, no longer covered in ash and blood. Malfoy had, almost unfairly, grown into his looks, no longer slicking his hair back like a villain from American mafia movies, and his face had become less pointy, and more aristocratic. She wondered what exactly Draco Malfoy was doing in Hogwarts, and whether or not she should have been giving him the benefit of the doubt she had currently offered.

* * *

The girls were gossiping. The moment they had sat down on the bleachers to watch the others play, Parvati, Padma, and Lisa had huddled together in whispers. The boys who hadn't wanted to join the game, claiming to be too tired for flying, were passing a snitch around from one end of the bleachers to another. Hermione was relieved that she had brought a book along with her. She had never taken a liking to talking about other people behind their backs, something that most girls participated in on a regular basis, expecting this, she had come prepared.

Sitting near the girls, but not too near so that she could be saved from their incessant whispering, she opened the book she had brought — an old, dog-eared copy of Milton's _Paradise Lost._

After a while, she grew tired of reading, unable to finish a page after ten minutes of reading and rereading. Her nerves seemed to be getting the best of her. She stood, dusting her jeans off, ready to leave quietly.

"Hermione? Where are you going?" she flinched at the sound of Parvati's voice, caught in the middle of her escape plan.

"I'm just going to lie down for a bit." _Lie._ "I didn't get much sleep last night." _Truth._

"Alright." Parvati said after a moment, looking unsure. "See you later."

She left with a hasty goodbye, glad to be alone. Rather than heading back to the castle, Hermione took a detour to the Black Lake, thinking that maybe the peace and quiet would allow her to focus on the book.

She settled into her favorite spot, by an old tree near the bank of the lake, right before the grass met the sand. The tree's roots were tall and large, perfect for propping her back against to gaze over the lake.

Hermione stayed like this for a while, content in reading her book while surrounded by the sounds of the wind rustling through the leaves. After a while, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

She woke up to screaming.

Hermione bolted upright, looking around frantically for the source before realizing that the screams had come from her. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, and her breath came in pants. The nightmare came to her in flashes — faces of her friends covered in blood and dirt — the castle up in flames — jets of magic lighting up the sky like a horrifying fireworks display — and the resounding cackle of a mad woman resounding in the background.

She touched her face, her hand coming back damp. She hadn't even realized she was crying. Her breathing seemed to worsen, her chest felt like her heart wanted to pry it open and jump out. Hermione tried to calm herself down, taking gulps of air as if her life depended on it. She brought her knees to her chest, burying her face in her arms.

Hermione didn't hear the soft footsteps approach her cautiously, she didn't hear the sound of someone crouch next to her. She was only made aware of the new presence when he spoke.

"Drink this." he said.

Hermione screamed bloody murder, her whole body going rigid.

She looked up from her panic attack to find the worried face of Theodore Nott looking back at her.


	3. Chapter 3 : Jasmine

**Chapter 2 : Jasmine**

She tried to move away from the boy, but only succeeded in hitting her shoulder on a tree root. Her breathing was becoming more labored, and her head was beginning to spin.

"I'm not trying to poison you, Granger." said Nott in a soft voice, Hermione's brain screamed at her not to trust him, "It's Calming Draught. You're having a panic attack."

 _'Really, am I?'_ she tried to scream, _'Tell me something I don't know.'_

Apparently, the withering look in her eyes conveyed just as much as her words couldn't.

"Right, you probably already knew that." said Nott, abashed. "Anyways, just take it." He pushed the bottle into her hands, making sure she held on to it.

Hermione waited for him to leave, her chest still rising and falling rapidly, and her tears still streaming down her face. She was more than mortified to have someone see her like this. But he didn't leave. He just stayed that, crouched with his hands on his knees, looking at her intently. Hermione, just wanting him to leave her alone, uncorked the bottle with shaking hands, and downed the concoction.

The thing about Calming Draughts was that they tasted like pillows. Literally. Her mouth filled with the unsavory taste of cotton, but almost instantly her mind cleared and her breathing normalized. "Thank you." she choked out after a minute.

"It's no problem." said Nott, "I carry one around all the time. But I never would've thought I'd be giving one to the Great Hermione Granger."

Hermione scowled at him, "I'm not great." she snapped, "And Calming Droughts are addictive, we shouldn't get used to them."

The dark haired boy just shrugged at her and stood, brushing off his pants. "Better than having to feel like your on the verge of dying in front of someone."

She looked up at him intently, trying to figure him out. In all the years that they had gone to classes together, Theodore Nott had not once spoken to her, not even to tease her like Malfoy.

"Why did you help me, Nott?" she asked, her eyes thinned in suspicion.

"Do I need a reason to?" he said with a brow raised, "You needed my help, and I gave it."

"I didn't need your help." she snapped.

"Now, now, Granger, you can't possibly expect yourself to get through this alone." said Nott, "Where are your friends? Shouldn't they be here with you?"

"I don't need someone watching over me all the time." she grumbled.

"On the contrary, five minutes ago, you looked like you did." he said, amused.

"I was handling it."

"If by handling you mean letting the attack get the better of you, then yes, you were doing a great job, Granger."

"I was riding it out!" she argued.

"That could've taken ages." said Nott. "You really should have a something ready just in case."

"Why do you carry a bottle of Calming Drought around?" she asked, "Do you get panic attacks to?"

Nott's offhanded expression suddenly twisted coldly, before returning with a smile on his face, "What do you think Granger?" his voice had become chilly, "If you had to experience the Dark Lord's wrath first hand every waking moment of your day, wouldn't you have them?"

Hermione looked away, uncomfortable under Nott's pointed gaze. "Sorry." she said, trying to apologize.

"Drop it." he said. "The good guys never understand."

He took his leave abruptly and didn't look back. Leaving Hermione to watch him walk up to the castle hastily.

* * *

"Hermione!" said Parvati when she climbed into the portrait hole a while later. "Where were you? You weren't at lunch and the Fat Lady said you never came back."

"I was at the lake." smiled Hermione, trying to hide any sign of what had happened. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Parvati."

"Merlin, Hermione, I thinking that I needed to send out a search party." said Parvati jokingly. Hermione gave her a small smile in return, taking a seat by the fire.

"The students will be arriving in a while." she said, looking at the clock, its hands were now pointed at 6 o'clock.

"Yep." said Neville. "McGonagall said we should be down in half an hour for the Sorting. I still can't believe that the Hat still works."

"Well it _is_ an enchanted one." pointed out Dean. "And Gryffindor made it himself."

"Yeah, but I swear I remember it catching on fire during the battle." said Neville.

"Enchanted objects like the hat usually have very strong protection spells around them." said Hermione. "Something as simple as fire can't harm them. Some books say that if a really exceptional wizard was the creator of the item, it could even resist the worst of curses."

"Interesting." mumbled Dean, giving her a playful grin.

"What? I read." she said defensively.

"We know." said the four people in front of her, earning a glare from Hermione before erupting into laughter.

"Dean, let's play chess." said Seamus, getting up from his seat on the couch.

"Alright, but no funny business." said Dean.

"What funny business?"

"You blew up my side of the chess set last time. I spent an hour digging bits and pieces out of my hair."

"That was an accident!" said Seamus.

"You should probably change into your robes Hermione." said Parvati. "We can go down to the Great Hall when you're done."

Hermione nodded with a smile before making her way to their room.

She sighed in relief once she was out of sight. Her hands had been shaking ever since the encounter with Nott. Thankfully, the jumper she had chose to wear had had pockets so that she could hide them.

She dug her nails into her palms angrily. The Calming Drought had only worked so much, and now its effects were beginning to wear off. Adding to that, she was feeling rather guilty over what she said to Nott. It was she who had said not to cause trouble and give them grief, but in the haze of her panic attack, she had lashed out angrily.

"Ugh." she muttered as she pulled on her school jumper. "I hate apologizing." she said to herself.

Hermione gazed at herself in the mirror. She looked like hell. Bags were forming under her eyes from the lack of sleep, her skin was pale and her hair a mess, reaching well past her shoulders. Thankfully, the jumper hid the fact that she had lost more weight than she led people to believe. The last thing she needed was people worrying over her more.

She quickly a brush through her hair and pulling it into a long plait and muttered a few concealment charms to hide her tired looking face. After a moment, she was looking passable to be considered alive.

"Are you ready?" said Parvati, upon seeing her friend walk down the staircase.

"Yeah, let's go." she said, walking out the portrait hole first.

* * *

The students still hadn't arrived by the time they got to the Great Hall, but all the teachers were there, milling about and conversing. A familiar hulking figure stood at the end of the table, talking to Professor Flitwick.

"Is that?" said Neville.

"Hagrid!" cried Hermione, rushing to the half-giant.

"Hermione!" said Hagrid as she neared. "It's great ter see ya."

"How have you been, Hagrid?" she said.

"Alrigh', Olympe and I took a vacation in the mountains over the summer. Had to get Grawp back to his own kind."

"That's good, Hagrid." she said, the smile on her face widening. "I'm glad you're doing well."

"Well I've got ter go get the firs' years now, Mione." the man said, "The other students'll be here in a bit so you should go take a seat."

"See you later, Hagrid." she said.

Just as she sat down next to Parvati, the doors to the Great Hall opened, letting in the rest of the students. Hermione noted some familiar faces in the crowd, but was sad to note that Ginny Weasley had chosen to leave. She had received an offer from the Hollyhead Harpies after the war, and the last Hermione heard, she was still mulling it over.

When the tables were filled and the students settled, Professor McGonagall called for silence. The first years were brought into the room and led to the front of the Hall. There were much less students than the years before, which Hermione had expected. Only about thirty of them stood uneasily in the middle of the room.

Hagrid came in, bringing out a stool with the Sorting Hat perched on top of it. It looked just as it always had — ratty and old and weatherbeaten. The hat immediately broke into song as soon as it was set down.

 _In olden times when I was young,_

 _And Hogwarts bright and new,_

 _The masters of this noble school,_

 _Taught what they knew was true:_

 _United by a single goal,_

 _They shared a common thought,_

 _To make the best magic school,_

 _In the world, all throughout._

 _"Together we will build and teach!"_

 _The four good friends decided_

 _And never did they dream that they_

 _May one day be divided._

 _For what could possibly come between_

 _Good Godric and Slytherin?_

 _Who could possible come to part_

 _Wise Rowena and Hufflepuff?_

 _The answer would be magic itself,_

 _Its presence ever growing_

 _The great divide of Dark and Light_

 _Between the four friends showing,_

 _And now it seems, the world is young,_

 _And Hogwarts born anew,_

 _Out of the ashes, grime, and dirt,_

 _A better Hogwarts grew._

 _Built upon courage of Godric_

 _And wisdom of Ravenclaw,_

 _Upon loyalty of Helga,_

 _And cunning of Salazar._

 _Divided we once were,_

 _Our four pillars toppled and fell,_

 _But now we must all start again,_

 _Lest good Merlin send us to hell._

 _For here is where all shall end,_

 _Where fighting must all stop,_

 _Link arms and together stand,_

 _For Hogwarts to come on top._

 _For Slytherin has come back_

 _Into our mighty fold,_

 _Our prodigal, our very own,_

 _Dear students you have been told,_

 _Discard all else but well wishes,_

 _There is no room for judgement here,_

 _The war as ended, the fighting done,_

 _Let peace reign supreme_

 _Listen closely to my song:_

 _Though condemned I am to split you_

 _Still I worry that it's wrong,_

 _Though I must fulfill my duty_

 _And must quarter every year;_

 _Let not the past consume you_

 _With hate that turns hearts to stone_

 _For this is a time for forgiveness,_

 _To those ready to atone_

 _We must unite inside Hogwarts,_

 _Or we'll crumble once again_

 _I have told you, I have warned you. . . ._

 _Let the Sorting now begin._

"I hope Goldstein chokes on that." muttered Seamus under his breath.

Hermione was looking over at the Slytherin table, as were many other students, to where the seventh years were trying to hide their faces from the attention. She saw Nott look up, and their eyes met for a fraction of a second, before she looked away.

"Arden, Farrah." McGonagall called out.

A shaking girl with gold pigtails came up to the stool and put the hat on her head. The hat considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted, _"GRYFFINDOR!"_

Hermione clapped along with the rest as the girl walked quickly to their table and sat down, looking embarrasssed.

"Belby, Icarus."

The hat seemed to pause for just a moment before deciding, " _SLYTHERIN!"_

The hall quieted. Even the Slytherin table was unsure whether or not they should clap. Belby was stuck on the seat looking terrified, looking as if he wanted the ground to open and eat him up.

After a tense few minutes, and no one moving a muscle, Hermione stood, drawing the attention of the room. She willed her hands to stop shaking, praying to Merlin that he wouldn't let her trip. She walked tot he front of the room where Belby stood, and extended her hand with a smile.

"Come on." she said. The boy took her hand gratefully, not seeming to realize who she was, and allowed her to lead him to the Slytherin table. Once there, she nodded encouragingly to the boy to take a seat, and as soon as she saw him settled, made her way back to her own seat.

"Good job, Hermione." whispered Neville proudly.

Hermione smiled softly, looking over to the next table. Her eyes met Nott's for the second time, and she forced herself not to look away. The boy nodded at her, mouthing, _"Thank you."_

She offered a smile in return.


	4. Chapter 4 : Aconite

**Chapter 4 : Aconite**

The arrival of the rest of the students was causing her both relief and distress. For one, the castle was no longer as quiet as it was the day before. Chatter could be heard all through the corridors. Even from her room in Gryffindor Tower, she could hear the voices of the younger years carry from the common room. The main reason their presence was unwelcome, though, was the fact that they stared.

It wasn't only her, the younger students stared at all of them, the ones who had been through the war, as if they were some sort of museum display. Hermione took the brunt of it though, being Harry Potter's best friend was not helping the situation. She could practically _feel_ their eyes on her wherever she went. She pretended not to hear the whispers that erupted as soon as she left the room, not wishing to hear whatever they had to say.

There were some, of course, who were not satisfied with staring. A few second and first years came up to her regularly, asking questions about the War, and about Potter, and about Voldemort.

Neville and Parvati would shoo them away quickly, knowing that she wasn't yet comfortable with talking about the war. If her friends were not with her when it happened, she would pretend she was busy, or had something urgent to do, and run the other direction.

Hermione often found herself in the Astronomy Tower, the isolated place being the perfect escape from prying eyes. She would curl into a corner, conjuring a throw pillow to sit on, and finish her school work. The library was no longer a sanctuary for her, since many students frequented it these day. But the Astronomy Tower wasn't exactly the ideal place for her to be.

Up so high, she could see the whole of Hogwarts. The view unsettled her. If she turned to one direction, she could see the entrance of the castle, the fallen watch towers, and the collapsed walls, in the opposite side, she saw the greenhouses, the glass domes shattered, and the plants ablaze.

Memories flashed before her eyes alarmingly whenever she looked out the windows of the tower, so she settled to staying in her corner quietly, only wanting to escape everything.

* * *

She felt him before she saw him.

Hermione had fallen asleep in the tower while finishing her homework. The moment she felt another's presence near her, her wand was out and pointing at him. The glow it emitted from its tip lit up the intruder's face.

"Bloody hell, Granger, put that thing down." he said, his hands up in surrender.

She stared at the blonde in confusion. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"I should be asking you that." he said, rolling his eyes. "Is this your new room, then? Rather sparse on furniture, isn't it?"

"I just fell asleep." she said, in her defense. "I always do my schoolwork here."

"That's quite impossible, Granger, because _I'm_ always here." he drawled.

"No, you're not." she said, brows furrowed. "I've never seen you here before."

"Maybe we just missed each other." he shrugged. "Are you going to put your wand away or do I have to stay like this?"

Suddenly remembering who she was talking to, she stepped back in alarm, her arm wavered, but she didn't lower it.

"Ah, finally awake, are you?" Malfoy smirked. "I was wondering when you'd do that."

"Do what?" she snapped, eyes narrowed at him.

"That thing you do when someone's near you. The flinch-y 'don't touch me' thing."

"I don't do that." she said.

"Yes, you do." he said, folding his arms across his chest. "Don't pretend like you're not some scared little puppy now that you're alone and Potter isn't here to listen to you all the time."

"I _don't_ rely on Harry that much." she snapped.

"You're the only one here who actually believes that."

"I don't have to explain any of this to you." she said, gathering her things.

"The sooner you accept that you need someone to help you, the sooner you'll get better, Granger." he called out as she made to leave.

"I don't need advice from you." she hissed. "I'm fine on my own."

"Keep lying to yourself, then." he said, turning around.

Hermione paused for a moment, looking at his back in confusion. Why in the world was Draco Malfoy talking to her?

She shook of the though, scurrying down the tower steps, eager to get away from the nosy Slytherin.

* * *

"It seems like Ginny Weasley won her first match in the League." said Parvati at breakfast the next day as she scanned through the Daily Prophet article.

"That's great." Hermione said, smiling. "I'll have to write a letter congratulating her later."

The Prophet was becoming quite dependable again these days. After the war, Rita Skeeter had been forced to step down by the new owner of the newspaper. It had been bought by an anonymous wizard, and the entire workforce had been changed drastically. Ever since then, the wizard paper had been the most reliable it had ever been.

"When's her wedding by the way?" asked the witch next to her. "I know Harry proposed a month ago, but I haven't heard if they'd set a date."

"Next year, I think." Hermione said. "Ginny wants a date that won't coincide with school and Quidditch season."

"I bet it'll be in April." Parvati guessed. _"Marry in April when you can, joy for Maiden and for Man."_

"I'm dreading the wedding." Hermione confessed. "Ginny wants me to be the maid of honor, and Morgana knows how Mrs Weasley gets when her children get married."

Parvati laughed. "Do you think she's want Ginny to have a traditional wedding or a white dress one"

"If Ginny had things her way, she'd have a traditional wedding. She hates dressing up. But last time, Mrs Weasley went out of her way to sew Fleur this gorgeous white gown, so I don't know really. I hope they don't make me settle the decision."

"Harry must be dreading the planning." said Neville from across the table.

"He is." Hermione said. "I think it's taking all his restraint not to suggest they just elope."

The conversation moved towards other newly weds. After the war and during, several people had chosen to tie the knot, the reality of how fragile their world was shocking them into it.

Hermione silently wondered to herself how many of those marriages were based on love. When you were fearing for your life, it would be easy to confuse love for urgency to experience _something_ in life. It was a common occurrence after any major war, really.

While she was thinking, she felt someone's eyes on her, filling her with a sense of unease. She looked around her, trying to find the source, her eyes finally landing on a grey eyed boy sitting at the Slytherin table. He was watching her quite intently, unperturbed by the fact that he had been caught. He raised a brow, as if asking her what she could do about it.

Not even thinking, she stuck out her tongue at him. Then realizing who she was facing, she turned her head swiftly, focusing on dissenting the omelette on her plate.

What she didn't see was Malfoy's half shocked, half amused expression as she turned, and Nott's inquisitive gaze at the two.


	5. Chapter 5 : Furze

**Chapter 5 : Furze**

"Good morning, Professor." the class chorused as the pudgy man walked in.

"Morning, morning." said Slughorn, setting down his things on his desk. His eyes roamed around the room once, pausing a few times on certain people. "Is this all of you, then?"

"Yes, sir." said Ernie, smiling at the professor. The Hufflepuff was probably expecting to be invited at the next Slug Club meeting.

"How many of you are there?"

"Twelve, sir." Ernie said.

It was true, the amount of students was rather dismal. The rest of the seventh years weren't at all interested in continuing studying Potions, Neville most of all, saying that he wasn't going to waste any more time doing something he was rubbish at.

"Alright, pair up, all of you." said Slughorn, but before they started moving to their preferred partners, he took out the class list. "Bones with Corner, Finch-Fletchley and Goldstein, Granger and Malfoy, Macmillan and Nott, Patil and Patil, Thomas and Turpin."

Hermione felt as if all the blood had run out of her face. She turned to Parvati, her eyes wide and worried.

"Don't worry, Mione, you'll be fine." said the girl. "Just tell us if he's done anything bad, alright?"

Speechless, Hermione nodded as Parvati left to occupy the empty seat next to her twin. Before she knew it, the ferrety blonde had dropped his bag to the floor and was sitting next to her.

"We meet again, Granger." he drawled, his mouth twisting into a smirk.

Hermione ignored him, sat straight and focused her gaze on the chalkboard. Slughorn was writing down the ingredients for Amortentia, which was odd, since they had learned it in sixth year.

"I always start the year with a refresher course." he explained. "You will be drawing lots to create either of the three potions on the board. Two groups will be brewing Amortentia, the other, Veritaserum, and the other Essence of Dittany. You have the rest of the class to successfully brew your assigned potion. Now, please pick a representative to draw your lot."

Hermione stood immediately, beating Malfoy to it. She prayed to all the deities she knew that she wouldn't get Amortentia. The last thing she needed was to be brewing a love potion with Draco Malfoy.

Apparently all the gods in existence hated her guts. She crumpled the piece of parchment in her hand before heading back to their workspace.

"So, what is it?" Malfoy asked, glancing at her balled up fist.

"Amortentia." she said, through grit teeth.

Malfoy smirked, as if he had expected it. "I'll get the supplies, then."

"No, I can do it." she said, hastily getting up again.

"Sit, Granger, you did drew the potion. Just set the fire while I'm gone."

She was left with no choice but to follow. Hermione grumpily tended to the flames, making sure they were just the right height and didn't heat to a blue flame. The cauldron hung above the fire at precisely seven inches.

"Here, you can crush the Ashwinder egg." said Malfoy once he got back. Hermione glared at him.

"You can't order me around." she snapped.

"Fine, I'll do it, then." he said, rolling his eyes and reaching for a mortar and pestle.

"No, give it here." she said quickly, grabbing the silver egg from his hand. "You can shave the rose thorns."

He smirked again, moving to pick up a carving knife. Hermione was beginning to really hate that bloody smirk.

She placed the fine granules that remained of the egg into the cauldron, stirring clockwise six times until the shell had dissolved into a silver liquid.

"Are you done with the —"

Before she could finish her sentence, Malfoy dropped his rose thorns into the solution, making the conception turn a soft pink.

"Did you —"

"Put in exactly thirty-six thorns from a long stemmed rose, yes, now stir." Malfoy said.

She huffed indignantly, but did as he said, stirring three more times. They waited five minutes until the liquid simmered, then poured in 100 ml of peppermint oil.

Hermione then tried crushing the moonstone, trying to divide the rock so it weighed exactly fifty grams. No matter how hard she hit the gem with a hammer, it wouldn't crack at all.

"Give it here, Granger." Malfoy said, extending an open palm. She stared at him doubtfully.

"Just hand me the bloody rock."

She watched him smh the rock into several pieces with the back side of their chopping bored. He looked at her triumphantly, showing her the rocks. Hermione huffed and went back to minding the potion.

After the moonstone was added, the potion developed a slightly silky shine, the first indication that they were close to finishing it.

They let the potion set until it came to a boil. In the span of time that they waited, she focused all her attention in reading the Potions textbook, although she had already read through it. He wasn't trying to talk to her anymore, which was sort of a relief. She had no idea why on earth he would be talking to her, but some part of her brain was screaming at her to run and hide.

"Hey, Granger, it's time." Malfoy said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She scrambled to stand, and added the final ingredient. The pearl dust fell from her palm easily, dissolving as soon as it touched the boiling mixture.

Almost immediately, the liquid inside the cauldron developed the correct mother of pearl sheen, shining at them prettily. Malfoy raised a hand to call Slughorn over to check their work.

The professor made his way to their workstation quickly, excited to see that someone had already finished.

"Amortentia, then? Yes, yes, it looks like it's perfect." Slughorn chortled happily, "Now, what do you two smell?"

Slughorn was looking at her expectantly. After a moment of hesitation, Hermione took an uneasy sniff of the potion, expecting to smell grass and toothpaste and whatever. The scents that entered her nose, however, were completely different than those of two years ago.

"Old books …. the smell of grass right after it's started raining … and lemons?" her brow furrowed in confusion, none of those things brought anyone to mind.

Slughorn then turned to Malfoy, who was looking at her in amusement.

"I can smell … lavender … firewood smoke … and parchment." Malfoy was smirking again. She really, _really_ wanted to wipe it off his face.

"Very good, very good." said Slughorn. "Top marks for a perfect Amortentia!"

"So, Granger," Malfoy said, wearing a sly grin, as soon as the professor moved to another table, "Lemons? Got a wizard up you sleeve the Daily Prophet doesn't know about?"

"It's none of you business who it is." she said, turning away. She honestly had no idea what those scents were either.

"Well, I know exactly who _mine_ is." he said, sitting back on his stool. "Would you like to know?"

"I really couldn't care less, Malfoy." she said.

"You'll find out soon enough, anyways." he said, which she found odd.

"Like I said, Malfoy, I don't really care."

She convinced herself that she had imagined him muttering _"For now."_ under his breath.

* * *

It took her a week before she could return to the Astronomy Tower. Once the lingering stares and echoes finally got to her, Hermione found herself racing up the steps of the tower, not even caring whether Malfoy was there or not.

She felt as if her world was getting smaller and smaller, and the smaller it got, the less she could breathe.

She cursed herself as she ran, angry that she was having another panic attack. As she entered the tower, Hermione fell to her knees, gasping for breath. The blood pounded in her ears like a bass guitar at a rock show, her heart was the drum set, pounding away, her hands were the cymbals, shaking as if they had been hit.

Hermione balled her hands into fists as hard as she could until she could feel the sharp pains up her hand caused by her fingernails digging into skin. She bit her lip hard to keep her from screaming, she didn't really know when her mouth started to taste like blood.

 _"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"_ she hissed over and over again, trying to force herself to calm down.

In her anguish, she did not hear the foot steps approach her.

He crouched down next to her, laying a hand on her back in support. He remained quiet, making Hermione even more tense.

 _"What do you want_?" she hissed in between gasps. She hated the world for choosing the worst people in the fucking universe to see her attacks.

"Stop being so angry." he said softly.

 _"Don't … tell me … what to do!"_ she cried.

"Do you want a potion?" he asked.

She shook her head, making her hair whip around her. _"Go away."_

He copied her, shaking his own head.

He stayed there for who knows how long, crouched on the floor next to her as she tried to pull herself together.

* * *

When she finally caught her breath and settled her aching heart, she wiped the tears out of her eyes weakly and stood, brushing off the hand that was still supporting her.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she said, her voice hoarse and tired.

"I don't know." he said, looking at her blankly.

"Figure it out then." she said. "Stop bothering me until you do."

She turned to leave, the tension in the room was growing too heavy for her.

"Wait." he said, grabbing her by the wrist.

Hermione faced him, wrenching her arm from his grasp. _"What?_ ' she asked, exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry." he said, not exactly looking at her.

"For what, Malfoy? You have a a shit ton of things to be apologizing for." she snapped.

"Everything." he said. "I'm sorry for everything. For bullying you and calling you that word, for helping the Dark Lord, for being a Death Eater, for what Bella —"

"Stop." she said coldy, glaring at him with an intensity someone who had just had a panic attack shouldn't have had. "You cant just say you're sorry and expect things to be fine. _You can't apologize for what she did to me,_ for what you did to us."

"I know." Malfoy said, looking down at his feet. "I don't expect everything to be fine. I just wanted to say it. I had to."

"Well, you said it." she snapped. "Good for you."

"Look, Granger —"

"No, _you_ look, Malfoy." she snarled. "I'm done. I'm tired. I'm so bloody sick of dealing with the shit this world wants me to deal with. I just want to graduate so I can get away from all this. I don't fucking care anymore. I just want it all to disappear. So, if you could just kindly do that and leave me alone, I'd gladly appreciate it."

She shrugged her school bag over her shoulder, stomping say angrily, leaving a speechless Draco Malfoy in her wake.

* * *

a/n: have you guys ever felt the way Hermione does bc tbh that me 24/7 lmao


	6. Chapter 6: Rue

**Chapter 6: Rue**

Ignoring him would have been easier if they didn't have every single class together. For the first time in her life, she found herself considering skivving off class just so she didn't have to face him.

He was sitting at a worktable when she and her friends arrived in greenhouse four, his face a picture of innocence that made her want to slam a potted mandrake over his head. She took her seat gingerly in the table behind his, relieved that he didn't try talking to her.

"Morning, Longbottom." he said instead, giving a short nod of his head at Neville's direction as he passed. Her friend's surprise was evident on his face.

"Uh … morning?" Neville said, his brows furrowed in confusion as he moved to take a seat next to her. "What's gotten into him?" he whispered as he sat.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders, not looking at Neville as she did so.

"Hermione, did you hear?" Lisa Turpin whispered from behind her. Well, she tried to whisper, but her voice was loud enough for the entirety of the eight person class to hear. "Ron's found himself a girlfriend! Apparently, they met at a Quidditch match. It's all over Witch Weekly — OOMPH!"

The sound was caused by a furious looking Susan Bones, who's had apparently elbowed Lisa in the gut to get her to shut her mouth.

"Oh, sorry." Lisa said, sounding repentant.

"It's okay." said Hermione, giving the girl a brittle smile as she turned to face the from of the class. She saw Neville glance at her from the corner of her eye, but she ignored him. She ignored them all, she even ignored the sound she could have sworn she heard of her heart breaking once again.

* * *

"Hermione, it's Hogsmeade weekend, did you forget?" asked Parvati, who was fastening on her earrings while walking down from the girl's dormitories. Hermione smiled at her friend and shook her head.

"I didn't forget." she said. "I think I'll pass this time."

"Oh, well then I'll stay and keep you company —"

"Go." she said with a smile, "I'll be alright, you don't have to worry about me. Go have fun."

Parvati seemed to hesitate. "Are you sure? I don't really need to—"

"I'm sure." said Hermione. "Go."

"Okay, then bye." her friend said. "Just send a Patronus if you need anything, alright? I'll bring you a butter beer or something."

"Have fun!" Hermione called out.

Saturday mornings in the Gryffindor common room were generally quite, most of them were enjoying Hogsmeade, and those too young to do so were still fast asleep, which left her in the large room all by herself.

After a while, she began to grow restless, and stood. Hermione stretched her legs for a bit, and that was when she saw a bright blue piece of glossy paper sticking under one of the cushions on the couch. She pushed the pillow away and read the title, which was printed in large, bright yellow block letters across the magazine.

 _2nd Most Dateable Bachelor of the Year — Bachelor No More?_

Under the headline were several snapshots of Ron and a pretty looking blond witch. The pictures showed them leaving a well known club in the posh part of Diagon Alley, their arms were linked together tightly, as they laughed while they walked. The girl was gorgeous — all red lips and blond hair and long legs. She reminded Hermione of one of the supermodels that posed on her mother's Vogue magazines.

Hermione cast the paper aside, making sure that Ron's face was on the ground. She left the room with a huff, not sure whether she should be angry. Why should she be? They never were together, it was only one kiss. But still, on her part, it was years of liking him, thinking that there was a possibility he could like her.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't realize where she was going. It was only when she found herself in the middle of the Astronomy Tower, having the wind whip her into reality that she noticed her feet had brought her to the exact place she had been avoiding for the better part of her week.

She looked around quickly, sighing in relief when she found that she was, thankfully, alone. She had not seen much of Draco since that night, except during classes, which was inevitable. Even during Potions, Draco had somehow learned to hold himself back. He did not say a word to her, even if he needed to. When he wanted to borrow a knife or a ladle, he went all the way to the opposite side of the classroom to borrow it from Theodore. He had not spoken a word to her at all.

Hermione shoved these thoughts to the back of her mind, it was useless to think about such things. She should have considered herself blessed that she wasn't being disturbed any longer, not wonder why he had kept his silence.

She found herself waiting for him to step through the doors, tensing every time she would hear a creak, but he never showed. When the sun began to set on the horizon, she leaned against a pillar and allowed herself to drift to sleep.

When she woke up, it was pitch black, and the wind was still blowing. Oddly enough, she felt pleasantly warm, which she attributed to how well she had wrapped herself.

She came to the Astronomy Tower more frequently after that, and none of the times she did so did Malfoy interrupt.

* * *

On a Wednesday afternoon, during one of her free periods, while she was researching about a lost Mayan Runic System, she spied out of the corner of her eye a flash of silver hair. It was almost like a reflex reaction, she hid behind her book, opening it wide so that it could cover her face entirely. She peeked from the sides to see whether or not he would make his way towards her.

He did not. Instead, he headed for the tables on the opposite side of the library. Hermione watched as he, very unlike him, helped a boy struggling with a pile of books. She noticed after he had taken half the books that the boy he had helped was Neville long bottom. Malfoy helped her friend to his seat and set the books down lightly. Then, he motioned to the seat, as if asking whether or not it was alright for him to sit.

She thought she saw Neville hesitate, but he agreed none the less, which made Hermione wonder if they were actually friends. She watched as Malfoy opened a conversation, and she wished that she had the power to read lips. After some time, Malfoy stood, with a smile on his face that could clearly be seen from her side of the room. He shook hands with Neville firmly and left. What the hell was happening?

On Saturday morning at breakfast, it seemed that she was the only one shocked to see Neville waving over the Slytherins to eat at their shared table. Theodore, Daphne, Malfoy and Tracey shared odd looks with each other before standing and bringing their plates along with them. Hermione watched as they sat down, the two girls took seats next to Padma and Lisa, Malfoy took a seat next to Neville, and Theodore sat directly in front of her.

Hermione met his eyes as he sat, she nodded in acknowledgment, unsure about what she was supposed to do. She expected him to nod back in return and go back to eating or talk to Dean, but instead he gave her a small smile.

"Morning." he said, "How've you been?"

"Decidedly calm." she said. He nodded in understanding.

"I could use some tips for that." he said.

"I don't have any, really. The calmness comes and goes."

Theodore nodded, "I guess I can relate."

"I still don't agree with inauthentic variations of calming though." she said pointedly.

"To each his own." he said, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Did you finish the book you were reading?"

"Yes, though I can't say I enjoyed it, it isn't the most positive of books." she said.

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.." he nodded, "It's hits a little too close to home, doesn't it?"

"Hmm…" Hermione agreed.

"Never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep… Do you agree?" Theodore asked, his brow was raised and he was looking at her as if he was testing her.

She sighed, "No. Not entirely. It is not easy to forgive, nor is it easy to ask for forgiveness. I guess it's up to the ones in question, really, if they have been so consumed by hatred that they can no longer open their hearts to the possibility of a shared peace."

"Hmm…" he said with a nod, "It would do you well if you listened to half the things you say, Granger, otherwise, you only come off as a hypocrite.

Hermione felt affronted by his words, but he showed no sign of regret. She sputtered for a moment before catching herself, "I— I'm sorry." she said, hanging her head, "I think I've been holding on to the past too much and have been preaching without practicing."

"I'm not the only one who needs to hear that." Theodore said, turning his head slightly to the direction where Malfoy was sitting, now talking to Terry Boot.

"No, I guess you're not." she admitted.

 **a/n:** Sorry I've been gone for so long, I've been finishing my first fic, Of Cunning and Courage, and I completely ignored this one. I'll try to update this more often. Fortunately, OCC is coming to an end, so that means I can focus more on this one. Please be patient with me!


	7. Chapter 7 : Alstroemeria

**Chapter 7 : Alstroemeria**

She hated his smirk. She hated his smirk so much that she wished that Merlin would resurrect, stroll into the Astronomy Tower and curse his lips off his face. But she was trying to be the bigger person, and the bigger persons did not wish for legendary magical icons to curse things they did not like. She crossed her arms over her chest exasperatedly as he leant against the wall.

"I'm sorry." she said, through grit teeth.

"What was that, Granger?" he asked, his smirk spread into a catlike grin.

"I said, I'm sorry." she said again.

"For what?" he asked, inspecting his fingernails.

"For not giving you a chance." she forced the words out of her mouth so hard she felt her pride beginning to hurt.

"That's enough, Granger, you're turning red from exertion." he said, pushing himself off the wall. "Apology accepted."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I still don't trust you."

"I don't expect you to." he said simply as he approached a window. The wind blew his hair from his face while he admired the view. "How have you been?"

"Alright," she said, "no better no worse. You?"

He shrugged, "Nothing worth mentioning."

"I've noticed you've gotten quite friendly with Neville and the others." she said.

He nodded, "I apologized to the lot of them, Longbottom was the easiest to get through. You Gryffindors really are a bit too caring, you know."

She snorted, "I wouldn't call how I've been treating you caring."

"No," he agreed, "You're the type who needs people to prove to you that you're worth caring for."

She stilled, glaring at the back of his head as she said, "What do you know?"

"Quite a bit, Granger." he said, "You're not the only one around here who reads."

"I wasn't talking about that," she said impatiently, "You don't know a thing about me, why do you keep talking like you do?"

He shrugged his shoulders again. "You're easy to read."

"You're aggravating." she said.

"It's been pointed out to me before." he said, turning around to face her. His hair was being blown into his face, though he didn't seem to mind. Hermione wondered how he had such light hair, it wasn't something you saw in the non-magic world. It looked almost silver in the sunlight. "I didn't realize you and Theo were close."

"We aren't," she said defensively, "He tried helping once while I had an attack."

This seemed to make sense to Malfoy, as he nodded his head in understanding, "So am I to presume you're going to try and speak to me from now on?"

"Isn't that what I'm doing now?" she said.

"You know that's not what I mean." said Malfoy, "I mean, will you stat talking to me like I'm a normal person from now on?"

"You're far from normal." she said with a laugh. "Why are you so intent on this anyways?"

He shrugged again, she noted that this action too, was beginning to get on her nerves, "I want to get to know you."

"Why?" she asked inquisitively.

"I want to know more about muggles." he said immediately, "Surprised? Well, I'm not joking. I'm honestly honest."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, trying to mask the surprise that was most likely showing on her face, "But why?"

"I just want to understand them more." he said, "The war changed me, Granger, it changed all of us. I don't believe in a lot of the things I used to. I'm trying to do some research, but I don't quite know where to start. I want to know what makes us different from them."

"You do?" she asked, failing to hide the shock in her voice.

He nodded, "I really do. And you're the only person that can teach me."

"What's in it for me?" she asked guardedly.

"The knowledge that you took part in the upheaval of years of prejudice and hate ingrained into my system?" he said hopefully.

She stared at him blankly.

"Fine, I don't know if you know, but Malfoy Library has one of the most vast collections of Wizarding history, folkore, and much more. I'll allow you access to it any time you please, as long as I accompany you."

"What makes you think I ever want to go back to that place?" she hissed.

Malfoy seemed to realize his mistake, "Sorry, I didn't mean for you to think I forgot." he said, "I no longer live at the Manor. My mother and I relocated after the war. There are just certain things you can't erase, no matter how hard you try."

Hermione found herself nodding absently, then, before she could catch herself, she said, "Okay."

"Okay?" he asked, perking up.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" she asked tiredly, this whole conversation had drained her entirely.

"Thanks, Granger." Malfoy grinned. It was the first time she had seen him grin without hit looking evil and malicious. She decided that it wasn't a bad look on him.

Hermione turned to leave, but he called out to her once more.

"You won't regret this." he said.

"I really hope I won't." she said, although she was filled with a dread that told her that she really would.

* * *

"What do you want to know?" she asked awkwardly. Malfoy had arrived in the library a little while after she had. It was Friday, so she didn't need to worry about anything yet. He was sitting across the table from her, a small smile plastered on his face. Hermione was glad that next to no one went to the library on a Friday evening.

"What do you think I should know?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, there isn't exactly a curriculum for this, and Muggle Studies is kind of a joke." she admitted. She still couldn't get over how odd this was.

"Tell me about you, then." he said, leaning back in his chair.

"Me?" she repeated confusedly.

"Yeah, that's a way to start right? What do your parents do, Muggle School, those things."

"Er, well, my parents are dentists." she cringed slightly at the blank look on his face as she said this, "Alright, so you know how we have Healers and there are Mind Healers, Curse Healers and etc, right?"

He nodded seriously, though it was obvious he had no idea where this was going.

"Muggles have healers too, except they're called doctors, and there are different kinds, there are heart doctors, bone doctors, my parents are teeth doctors."

"So they heal teeth?" Draco said, "Is it a respectable occupation?"

"Yes, I should think so." Hermione said, "They had to learn quite a bit and have a bunch of patients… oh, you mean, of course you mean that … to answer your question whether or not my family is poor, Malfoy, no, we're not, my parents provide for me easily."

He held his hands up in innocence, "I never said they didn't, Granger. Tell me about school, what's the Hogwarts equivalent?"

Hermione inhaled deeply, "Muggles starts school very young, at around five, where we learn how to count, things like that, as we get older we learn more things, like Maths, which is like arithmetics, and Science, which deals with how the world works, generally, we learn languages, Social Sciences, History, Art, Music, Technology — which involves computers, which I have no idea how to explain to you.

"Malfoy, honestly, I don't think we'll get anywhere with this, if you think I can explain a whole entire world to you using just vague descriptions, you're more daft than I thought. Just because I'm muggle-born doesn't meant I know how to make you understand the non-magical world." she said exasperatedly.

"Let's go see it then." he said simply.

Hermione frowned at him, "What?" she asked.

"Another Hogsmeade weekend is coming up in two weeks. McGonagall's quite lenient with our year, I think she'll give us permission if we ask nicely, you can show me around Muggle London." he said.

"You want to tour you around Muggle London?" she repeated, looking at him as if he ha dgrown a second head.

"Like you said, I won't learn just by you telling me about it. So show me." he said. Hermione's face wove into a look of unease.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, Granger," Malfoy said, "Help a man with his reformation process. Can't you see I'm trying?"

"Are you sure you want to do it? It isn't glamorous, you know, compared to your life." she said.

"Trust me, I'm tired of that life." he admitted, "I'm ready for a fresh new world."

"Keep that in mind, then." she said, "Fine, but you have to go ask McGonagall yourself."

"Deal." he said, offering an outstretched hand. She took it hesitantly, and he gripped her hand tightly, smiling as his mercurial grey eyes bore into her own.


	8. Chapter 8 : Bird of Paradise

**Chapter 8: Bird of Paradise**

"Malfoy?" Parvati echoed, she had been brushing her hair on her bed as the two prepared to go to bed, but now her hair brush was discarded, and the girl was gaping at Hermione like a fish.

"Yes, odd isn't it?" Hermione said, frowning, she still couldn't figure out for the life of her why he was so intent on learning more about the muggle world, and why she had agreed.

"He asked you to show him around muggle London?" asked Parvati dubiously.

"That's what he said."

"And you said yes?"

"I don't know what got into me, but yes." said Hermione, watching her friend's face contort in confusion.

"So… is it like, a date?" asked Parvati.

"No!" she exclaimed, "No, it's absolutely not a date."

"It sounds an awful lot like one." her friend said, smirking.

"It's not," Hermione said with finality, "Besides, he probably won't be able to convince the Headmistress to allow us leave."

"I don't know, he seems quite persistent." Paravati said, returning to brushing her hair, "Are you sure about this, Hermione? I know you haven't been out a lot lately."

"I — I think I'll be fine." she said, her frown deepening, "I doubt there will be any press in Muggle London."

"Well, I'm glad, honestly." the girl said warmly, "This will be good for you, I think, a little break from everything."

"I don't think showing Malfoy a world he's always hated could be considered as a break." Hermione said, eliciting a chuckle from Parvati.

"You have a point, I guess," she said, "Although he seems quite nice these days, loads different from how he used to be. Did you know he helped me with my rucksack once when I had a little too much to carry?"

Hermione shook her head, Parvati hadn't told her this.

"And Neville seems to be getting along quite well with him, I was talking to Dean the other day and he reckons Malfoy isn't half bad." Parvati set down her brush on her nightstand, slipping into her covers, "I think you should give him a chance, Mione, he seems to really have changed."

"I hope you're right, Parvati." she said, following the girl's lead and tucked herself in, "I just pray to Merlin we won't end up at each other's throats by the end of the day."

* * *

Hermione set the letter from Harry on the table, sighing as she did so. Sunday afternoon sunlight was streaming into the library. There was something calming about being surrounded by books and warmth that left her breathing better and feeling lighter.

She had written to her best friend two days before, telling him about her plans with Malfoy and how she was getting along. He had written back just that morning, and she could practically feel the doubt and warning oozing out of his letter. Although Harry had kept Draco out of Azkaban by speaking at his trial, he did not care much for his school nemesis. Her best friend cautioned that she keep her eyes open, and not to let her guard down. Other than his warning, he expressed his happiness that she was actually setting out into London. Knowing that she had not stepped a foot out of the suburb where her old house was.

She penned a quick reply to him, asking about Ginny, and how the wedding planning was going, she would have written to the witch herself, but Hermione knew how hectic her schedule was, with practices and planning. She tucked the paper into an envelope to mail later just as a set of footsteps approached her, making her look up.

Draco was sauntering towards her, his trademark smirk on his face. He took a seat across without asking, making Hermione wonder when he had become so comfortable around her, and leant forward as if he was going to tell a secret.

"You know," he began, sounding quite pleased with himself, "I do consider myself quite brilliant."

"Funny, I consider you insufferable," she said, rolling her eyes, "Good afternoon to you, too, by the way."

"I got it." he smirked.

"What did you get? Spattergoit? A doxy infestation in your trousers? Male pattern baldness?" she quieried, "Any of the three will do."

"No, no, and I'll have you know Malfoys never go bald, it's against the laws of magic." he said, "I got McGonagall's approval. If you ask me, I think she's got quite a soft spot for you."

"She actually said it was okay?' Hermione groaned, watching as his smirk grew.

"Were you hoping she wouldn't? I don't think she would want to rob you of the experience."

"She can rip the experience straight out of my Gringott's vault along with everything else I own for all I care." muttered Hermione, "Do you know how difficult it will be for me to try and cram all the information into you little pureblood brain?"

"I'll let that one slide this time, Granger," he said, "McGonagall gave us a few weekends off, actually, I think she'd let anyone from our year off if they just asked nicely, she's being quite generous."

"It's probably because she knows we're perfectly capable, we're here for the formality after all, just to say we got our NEWTS." Hermione reasoned, "I'll be sure to tell the others that they can approach her."

"Anyways, she's allowing us to leave this weekend, if you're up for it." he said, "We'll be taking her Floo to the Leaky Cauldron."

"No." Hermione said immediately, she had tensed and Malfoy noticed.

"No to leaving this weekend, or not to the Leaky?" he asked cautiously.

"No to Flooing into the Leaky." she said flatly, "I don't want people to see us."

Malfoy seems to take offense at this, as his face had morphed into a sneer, "Oh, I get it, you don't want to be seen with the ex-Death Eater, do you? Reputation too pristine to be found cavorting with Lucius' Malfoy's son?"

"Shut up," she said, "I am _not_ cavorting with you, and you're being daft."

"What is it then?" he asked, his expression guarded.

"I'm trying to avoid the press — the Prophet's been hounding me for months for an interview. They haven't even got a picture of me after the Battle. I'd rather steer clear of all the incriminating questions and reporters trying to twist my words into the next new scandal. It has nothing to do with you."

"Oh," he said faintly, "Well, what do you suggest, then?"

She paused to think for a moment before saying, "We can use my house. It's connected to the Floo, and we can Apparate to London from there."

"It's settled then," he said, "I've already asked my house elf to exchange a some galleons for the Muggle currency, all that's left is what to wear."

"You need advice on what to wear?" Hermione said blankly.

"Unless you want me to wear dress robes, yes." he said.

"I'm not sure," she said, "Er, something casual, I guess? Jeans, if you have them, sneakers and a shirt."

"I don't wear sneakers." he said, his nose scrunched in a look of disgust.

"Why did you ask me, then?" she said exasperatedly, "Just wear something fit for walking."

"Hmm…" he said, trailing into silence. She tried to go back to her reading, but his presence was too difficult to ignore. Something he had said had irked her.

"You still have house elves?" she asked, unable to stop herself.

If he was surprised by her query he didn't show it, "House elf, singular. I freed the rest of them after the war. Only two actually wanted to stay, my person elf and my mother's."

"You freed them?" she echoed absently.

He nodded, "Asked them whether or not they wanted to stay, and if they didn't they could go to Hogwarts to help around. There were six of them, originally. I visit the kitchens every now and then to check up on them."

"You check up on them?" she was beginning to sound like a broken record player.

"Yes, Granger, is that so hard to believe?" he asked, "Contrary to popular belief, I know how to be thankful to the ones that helped raise me."

"Sorry," she said, blushing, "I just didn't realize —"

"That I could be somewhat human?" he smirked, "You don't know a lot about me, Granger."

"I can't say I do." she said honestly, "I never really wanted to."

"Well, like it or not, you're going to." he grinned. "Saturday, then? We'll leave at around 8 o'clock?"

"That's fine with me. Maybe we can go to all the touristy places first, like Kensington Palace and the Royal Albert Hall."

"Sounds posh." stated Malfoy.

"Coming from the man who lives in a manor house." she muttered.

"Lived." he corrected.

She shrugged, "Same thing."

* * *

"This really does sound like a date." Parvati said, watching Hermione douse her hair with Sleekeazy. She had been roused from her sleep by Hermione flitting about the room getting ready.

"It isn't a date." she groaned, pulling a olive green knit jumper over her leggings.

"How are you going to fit that umbrella into that tiny thing?" she asked.

Hermione grinned mischievously, passing the little black purse to her friend, "Extension Charm."

"You really should patent these, you know." Parvati said as her roommate slipped into a pair of black ballet flats.

"Anyone can do it." Hermione argued, "Anyways, I should be going now. He did say 8 o'clock."

She inspected herself in the mirror, exhaling nervously as she did so.

"You look fine, green suits you." Parvati said, leaning back into her pillows, "Take care, alright? You can handle Malfoy."

"I'll see you later." Hermione said, waving goodbye to her friend.

No one was in the common room that early on a Saturday, which was fine for her, since no one would be able to pry. She pushed the portrait open and stepped out, only to be met by another person's back.

"Oof!" she said, as the perpetrator steadied her. "Sorry — oh, Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come fetch you." he shrugged. Hermione frowned slightly in confusion, brushing the thought away as she surveyed his attire. It would do. The white dress shit was a little much, but he at least had on jeans and leather loafers, so he could pass off as a Uni student.

"Have you been here long?" she asked, as they began walking to the Headmistress' office.

"No, I only just arrived." he said, his usual playful tone was clipped.

"Nervous?" she asked curiously, looking at him from the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction.

He scoffed, "No."

"It's alright, you know." she said, smirking, "It's an entire different world. Your reaction's quite normal."

"I'm not nervous." he said flatly.

"Whatever you say." she aid, just as they arrived in front of the gargoyle. The staircase lead them up to McGonagall's office, where the witch was waiting for them.

"Ah, right on time." she said, "Now, I trust the both of you, being adults, and I expect you to come back at a reasonable time, don't make me regret this, now."

'Yes, Headmistress." they chorused.

Minerva led them to the fireplace, where they each took substantial amounts of Floo powder in there hands.

"Granger Residence, Heathgate, Hampstead!" Hermione said clearly. The fire roared as she stepped in, consumed by the flames in an instant. Malfoy followed after a few moments, nodding his goodbye to the Headmistress as he disappeared.

The former Transfigurations professor gazed at the flames, wondering what the fates had in store for them, and whether they knew what they were doing.


	9. Chapter 9 : Begonia

**Chapter 9 : Begonia**

 _"Tergeo."_ she said, pointing her wand at herself while she waited for Malfoy to come through the Floo. He appeared a moment later, covered in a fine layer of dust. She cast the same spell on him, and the dirt fell easily.

"Thanks." Malfoy said, brushing a non-existent patch of dust on his shirt. "This is your home?"

"Yes." she answered. It looked exactly as she left it before leaving for Hogwarts. It was clean, she had ensured that her absence would not lead to the house being unkept, she had bought it after the war with the money she had been rewarded with for her part in the war, which had been forced upon her by the Ministry.

"It's big." Malfoy observed, inspecting the room with wide eyes, he paused momentarily on the telly that sat in front of the couch. "What's that?"

"A television, Muggles use it to entertain themselves, they're like magical photographs, except they don't loop, tell a story, and have sound." she explain. Hermione ignored the comment about the house being bigger than he had anticipated, surely he was expecting something akin to The Burrow. But Hermione's parents had done quite well in life, and were both established in their practices. The house was fairly modern, maybe upper middle class, but nothing special.

She saw Malfoy inspect the telly a little closer, "How does it work, though?"

"We use electricity. We're able to channel it with various ways and the machinery allows us to use it in many things to make life easier." she said.

"I think life would have been more interesting if I had one of these as a child." he mused, "What do you watch on it?"

Hermione was a bit flabbergasted in his admission that he would have wanted a television, "Er, several things, the news, comedy shows, documentaries, it's a wide array of things, really."

"Shall we get going then?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh, right," she said, "You can't Apparate some place you haven't been, so I guess we'll have to do Side-Along."

Malfoy cocked an eyebrow at her, "You sure about that,Granger?"

"It's either that or waste our time driving there." she said, just grab my arm. He obliged, offering his arm to her politely. She took it gingerly, and they both Apparated with a pop. They reappeared in an alley a block away from the palace. She slipped her arm out of Malfoy's awkwardly.

"There are going to be a lot of tourists, so if you have questions, just ask, I only really brought you here to show you that Muggles can be quite grand, too. We'll just walk by, I don't fancy paying the fee just to hear a lady drone on about history." she explained.

They walked to the palace, remaining outside the gates, since she didn't want to waste time regaling the history of Kensington Palace. She stopped just in front of the palace, watching Draco's reaction, which was kept secret as he looked the palace over.

"Well, it is quite grand." he said simply, "Who lives here?"

"Members of the Royal Family." she said,

His eyebrows shot up, "They let commoners inside the homes of your king and queen?"

"I doubt that they're there right now." she laughed, "But there are only parts of the palace open to tourists, the real living quarters are guarded.

"What are those things the men in red robes and funny black hats are carrying?" he asked.

"They're called the Queen's Guard." she said, "And they're holding guns, which is a general term, I'm not sure what type of gun they're using, but they're used for protection. They shoot little metal bullets and are quite fatal, if they hit the mark."

"Sound messy." Malfoy said, eyeing the men.

"They don't really use them much around here except during demonstrations, I think." Hermione said. "Come on, it's suffocating here, if we go through the park we can get to the Royal Albert Hall in a few minutes."

A tourist bus had stopped in front of the palace and another group of tourists was being led out. She led him through an entrance of Hyde park, where, though there were a significant amount of people, the space was wider.

Because it was a Saturday, even more people were out, Hermione spied a few nannies watching over their charges as they played with bubbles, and a group of students who were probably on a field trip.

"What are they doing?" Malfoy nodded his head towards a group of buskers, where a group of interested people circled them. The twang of an acoustic guitar and the smooth notes of a saxophone reached her ears.

"Let's get closer, I can barely hear the song." she said.

Once they were just on the outer part of the circle surrounding the men, they could hear the music clearly.

"They're called buskers," she said, just loud enough for him to hear, "There are a bunch of them around the city with different talents. They perform for extra money on the streets. Look,"

They watched as a middle aged man in a suit stepped out of the circle surrounding the musicians to toss a bill inside the open guitar case. He left rather quickly after.

"Some of them are students, looking for extra allowance to spend, some are unemployed people who just want to get by. But anyone can busk, really. I had a friend once who'd bring his cello all the way out to the city during summer to earn a bit for spending purposes."

"But why do they do it? Why not just find jobs?" he asked.

"It's not that easy." Hermione said, shaking her head, "Jobs are hard to come by these days, that's why they busk. Besides, they have fun doing it."

The song ended, and the duo began another one, a soulful ballad that rang through the park. She stepped away from the circle, and they began walking once again.

"There are so many people." Malfoy stated.

'In the world, there are about six billion, disregarding the Magical Population, In London, right now maybe there are seven million? Without the tourists."

He let out a low whistle. "That's a lot of Muggles."

Hermione hummed in agreement, "Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, if you think about it, you're an aristocrat in our world, I daresay your family is one of the most influential, but Britain's wizard population is just over three thousand, if you're one out of a thousand, then that's significant in the wizarding world, but here, you never know. Maybe, out of the six billion people out there may be someone that might just be more powerful compared to you."

Malfoy remained silent for the rest of their walk through the park until they reached the concert hall. She held her breath as they were faced with the handsome piece of architecture in from of them.

"I don't really have a reason for bringing you here," she admitted, "It's just a concert hall, but I haven't seen it in a long time. Is it okay if we just look around for a moment?"

He nodded his assent and the pair walked towards their destination. "I used to come here all the time with my parents when I was younger." she said wistfully, "They loved the orchestra, so they took me with them when I was old enough, hoping that I would take to it, but I fell asleep almost every time."

She smiled at the memory, her heartstrings threatened to snap, but she held her own, refusing to break down this time. They wove through groups of people, who were also there to visit. The thrum of the city surrounded them entirely, and she realized just how alien this would seem to Malfoy, who, though he was used to excess and grandeur in his life, had never seen buildings quite this large, or skyscrapers quite as tall as the ones surrounding them, she wondered if he had ever seen a sky scraper before that day.

He must have been thinking along the same lines, because he asked her abruptly, "How do they make them go so high?"

"There are special machines for that." she said, "Like I keep saying, I'm not an expert on it, but Muggles have created various ways to make life easier, and achieve the things we do without magic."

Hermione checked her watch, and upon seeing that it was already half pat ten, she led them both back into Hyde park. "Let's have an early lunch here, yeah? We can watch people while they walk past and you can ask me questions."

"In the park?" he said, confused.

"Yes, in the park," she said with a smirk. "Come on."

Just outside the entrance of the park, where she spotted a food van parked for the day. She could hear the sound of cutlery inside, and the smell of fried food was wafting out.

"Good morning," Hermione said, returning the smile the man manning the cashier was giving her.

"What can I do for yeh, Miss?" he asked.

"Can I have two fish and chips and two bottles of water, please?"

"Coming right up." he grinned, taking her money.

"Don't look so amazed," she said to Draco under hear breath, "You can peek inside."

He stepped forward, watching as the team of three in the van worked in tandem to fix up their meal. "Is that oil in a vat?" he said, moldy horrified.

"Stop being such a ponce," she said, rolling her eyes, "Try something new. Not everything needs to be a seven course meal."

"Is that even healthy to ingest?" he said rather loudly, just as the man brought their food up to them.

"One of those health nuts, are yeh?" he asked, eyeing Malfoy disdainfully, "They all change their minds once they take a bite out of the good stuff."

Hermione laughed, handing the carton box to her companion, it was fresh off the frier and comfortably hot. "Go on, try it." she said encouragingly.

He looked at the fish and chips hesitantly, before picking a chip with his fingers and bringing it to his mouth. Hermione watched as his brows rose to his hairline in surprise. A laugh bubble from her again, as well as from the vendor, who was chortling at Malfoy's reaction.

"Told yeh so." he grinned, much to Malfoy's embarrassment.

"Thank you," Hermione called out as they left to enter the park once again. "Not all good things come perfectly wrapped, you know." she said, watching Malfoy consume his food.

He smiled, "Alright, you had me there, it was a pleasant surprise, but I still don't believe it's good for you."

"Of course it isn't," she grinned, "but sometimes we have to give in to these little temptations, don't we?"

"You don't know how right you are, Granger."

Something in the way the look in his eye change made her turn her head away from him uneasily. They walked until they finished their food, throwing their trash away when they were done.

"If we turn around the corner it should be right there," she thought aloud, racking her brain to try and remember whether or not she was right.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"There should be a cafe somewhere near here," she told him, "It's still rather warm out, so I'm hoping they have ice cream. What do you think?"

"Sounds nice," he said, observing her as she craned her neck to see over a tall bush. "What are you supposed to be looking at?"

"I told you," she said, "A cafe."

He smirked as she trie once again to look over the shrubbery, failing miserably as she did so.

"Move over, witch," he chuckled, doing as she had done and glanced over the bush easily, "It's there, we'll just have to turn right."

She glared at him in annoyance, which only made him smirk more impishly, "Do you want ice cream or not?" he asked. With a sigh, she nodded, and they resumed their walk.

They sat themselves down on an unoccupied table in front of the cafe, enjoying the frozen treats as people passed by.

"So, what do you think so far?' she asked curiously.

He seemed thoughtful for a moment before answering, "It's different from what I expected, cleaner."

"This part of London is kept better than the rest." she said, "Other than the cleanliness of the city, though?"

"It's just different." he said, trying hard to form the words, "All my life I've been taught that I was separate from this world, better, but I look around now and I can't tell if that woman over there is a witch or a Muggle. And then there's everything they've done, everything they're doing, without magic. I think I'd be rather lost if I didn't have it, but they found a way around."

"It's a magic in itself, really, how one finds ways to keep going though there are obstacles in the way. I think it's just how humans are, we were made to persist." she her eyes glazed over as she rambled, "I think you'd do rather well even if you weren't magical, you know. You're smart, have a way with words, and from what I've seen, you're quite persuasive. I think you'd fit right into the business world."

Malfoy was looking at her oddly again, and again she looked away, turning instead to observe a old man sitting at a table a few rows away from them, sketching on an easel.

Malfoy cleared his throat loudly, trying to mask the awkward air that had settled between them, "Where are we going after this?" he asked

"That's a surprise." she said mischievously. "Besides, you wouldn't know it even if I told you."

He was just about to open his mouth to complain when they were interrupted by a kind voice.

"Excuse me," it was the old man she had observed drawing, he was smiling brightly at the two of them, hand outstretched show them a piece of paper that looked like it had been ripped right out of his pad. "I was drawing over there. it's my hobby you see, and I just found the two of you to be such a handsome couple, I hope you don't mind, but I would like you to have it."

Hermione felt the blood rush to her face at his words, "Oh, we're not—"

"That's very kind of you, sir." Malfoy said, drowning her out, "Of course we'll accept it, how can we pay for for such a lovely thing?"

"No, no, take it, young man." he said, "It's a gift."

Malfoy smiled warmly to the man, as he inspected the drawing. "It really is a fine sketch, sir."

"Thank you, my boy," he chuckled, "I wish the both of you a good day."

"You too, sir." Malfoy said, as the man walked back to his seat.

"Why did you do that?' she hissed, as soon as he was out of earshot.

"He was being nice, Granger. And look, it's a charming little thing." He showed her the paper, which was truly very pretty. It had no color, but the lines were clear and detailed, showing the two of them smiling at each other over ice cream. It did look awfully like a date.

"You made him think that we were on a date." she said accusingly.

"Are we not?' he said playfully, smirking at her as he did.

"Shut it Malfoy, as if we ever would go on a date." she scoffed.

"Is the idea so off-putting to you, Granger?" he asked, a look of hurt flashing in his eyes before quickly being replaced by his normal expression.

She huffed, refusing to answer. Instead she moved to grab the sketch, but it was hastily taken out of her reach. Malfoy was folding it up and placing it into his breast pocket before she knew it.

"Where to next, Granger?" he asked.

* * *

 **n/a:** So the tea is that I have no knowledge whatsoever about London, I've never been there before in my life, so I don't know if what I'm writing makes any sense, but everything here is made up except for the places, which I searched on the internet. lol.


	10. Chapter 10 : Protea

**Chapter 10 : Protea**

She Apparated them right onto a secluded part of the Jubilee Gardens, landing clumsily on gravel.

"You know, Granger, if you told me that there might be a chance of me falling on my face and into a pile of rocks, I could at least prepare myself for it." Malfoy drawled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Relax, Malfoy, you didn't ruin your pretty face, there's nothing to complain about."

The fiendish smirk that appeared on his face the moment the words slid off her tongue made her eyes narrow in suspicion.

"What?" she snapped.

"Oh, nothing." he said, whistling as he moved ahead.

Hermione huffed, "You don't even know where you're going."

"That's what you're here for, aren't you?"

She resisted the urge to smack the back of his head, though the mental image still brought a grin to her lips. "Come on then," she said, "you're going the wrong way."

"What is _that_?" came the question a few moments later as they cover of trees cleared.

The behemoth of a structure rose from the ground and into the sky, the seemingly tiny capsules on it moving as the wheel turned. The London eye was a new a sight to her as it was to Draco, as it had only been built very recently. She had heard that it was the largest Ferris wheel in the world, and it lived up to its moniker.

"That's the London Eye." she said, grinning at the shock on the blonde's face. The late afternoon sun was just beginning to dim enough that she could look at the structure without shielding her eyes.

"You're joking me." Draco said, "Granger, tell me you haven't gone bloody insane."

"Come now," she said, dragging him by the elbow. "We'll miss our schedule."

Forcing a reluctant Draco Malfoy to do something he didn't want to do was beginning to be more difficult than she had anticipated. Currently, they were waiting to board their capsule in the private lounge.

"Malfoy, how many times do I have to tell you that it's perfectly safe." she groaned.

"Nothing is safe about being suspended over a river in a large metal box, Granger." Malfoy argued adamantly.

"It's been tested, Malfoy." she insisted, "There's little to no chance that it'll fall."

He harrumphed for the millionth time in the span of twenty minutes since they had arrived.

"Malfoy, if you don't get on it, I'm going to Imperius you into doing it." she warned as a man in red and white uniform approached them.

"Miss Granger, your capsule is ready." said the man.

Hermione smiled, getting to her feet. "Let's go, Malfoy."

The Slytherin stood, apprehension written across his face as the red velvet rope was pulled away.

"Don't worry, sir," said the man, "there's absolutely nothing to be afraid of."

Malfoy scoffed, "I'm not afraid." He stomped into the capsule like he was on a mission, hesitating only for a minute when he realized he was no longer supported by the ground.

Hermione giggled when the man winked at her knowingly.

"Thank you." she whispered.

During the time they waited for the wheel to begin moving again, they were served champagne, which left Malfoy pleasantly surprised, especially since it wasn't half bad. Before the wheel started, he had already downed three flutes.

"Merlin, Circe and Morgana," he cursed as the wheel jolted into motion.

It was slow, pleasantly so, and Hermione couldn't conceal the look of wonder on her face as the view of the Thames appeared just as the sun began to set.

"Come closer to the windows, Malfoy." she urged, "It's absolutely gorgeous."

Malfoy crept closer cautiously, as if his added weight would tip the entire capsule. Even he couldn't hide his surprise as he took it all in.

"That's Big Ben." Hermione said suddenly.

"Who?" he asked, looking at her as if she had just sprouted an extra head.

"Not a _who_ , a what." she laughed, "It's what the clock tower is called. Right next to it is the Parliament building."

"What do you think?" she asked, after they both had lapsed into silence.

Draco shook his head, they were getting right to the top. He wasn't so shaky on his feet any more.

"Remember what you said about the world being big earlier?" he asked quietly. "It struck me just now how true it might be. Everything's so fucking big."

Hermione smiled mostly to herself, "And they've done all of this without magic."

"It makes you wonder where you'd be if you couldn't do magic." he mused, "I don't think I'd know right from left if someone took my wand from me."

Hermione hummed in agreement, "It's silly if you think about it, how we just came out of a war that killed probably thousands, but the muggles live on. They may have experienced the back lash a bit, but they got through it. The bridge that was cursed to crumble was rebuilt just as quick, and life went on. They don't even know that they were in danger."

"Lucky them." Draco muttered into his glass.

"Lucky them." Hermione echoed, just as the ferris wheel came to a halt.

* * *

"Thank you." he said, after they had exited McGonagall's office.

Hermione nodded, "You're welcome."

He wavered for a moment, opening and closing his mouth, "I - I had fun today, surprisingly."

She smiled, "I did, too, surprisingly."

"Do you think you'd want to do it again?" he asked cautiously, in a voice that sounded like he was talking to a rabid dog.

"I think I might." she said, "But not too soon, I - have a lot to do." she finished lamely.

"Of course," he said, sounding mildly pleased with himself. "Would you like me to walk you back to Gryffindor tower?"

She startled, "What? No, that won't be necessary, Malfoy."

"Just trying to be polite, Granger." he shrugged, "Well, see you at breakfast, then."

* * *

Hermione was climbing up the steps of the tower when it struck her. Almost immediately, the warmth seemed to leave her body, taking with it the air in her lungs. The stairwell flashed in and out of vision, the memory of people hurrying down flashing in her mind. The all too familiar feeling of dread bombarded her sensed, crippling her to the point that she tried to back up, but her feet slipped on the stone steps.

Her scream was only heightened by a pair of strong arms encircling her waist, clutching her tightly.

"Shhh," the attacker said, as she tried to wrench herself away, "Breathe, Hermione, it's alright, you're safe."

Her struggling faded into wrenching sobs, her body fell limply against whoever was still holding her tightly. When the panic attack subsided, she twisted around, wiping her tears in embarrassment. She hadn't been prepared though, to face Malfoy, who was eyeing her with barely concealed worry in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked, loosening his grip on her waist. She caught his hands in hers, keeping them there.

Her sense flew out the window as the alarm at having his comforting hold disappear shook her, "Give me a moment," she gasped, looking down at his chest, "Just, just hold me for a moment, please."

She missed the look of surprise on his face at her request, but the immediate tightening of his hold shocked her that he so readily agreed. She felt him pull her closer, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. Harry and Ron had always known to stay close to her over the summer, in case she had an attack and needed consoling.

The embrace grew awkward quickly, and she found herself pulling away. "Thank you." she said, looking at the floor.

"Don't - don't mention it." Malfoy choked out.

"Were you following me?" she asked, spying the telltale flush on his cheeks at being caught.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright." he said quickly, "You had a long day, I just -"

"Thank you." she said softly, interrupting him. "Good night, Malfoy."

"... Good night, Hermione."

 **a/n:** Incredibly sorry for my absence. I was a bit distracted. Here's a really short, mildly disappointing chapter for all of you. I promise to make up for it. Just trying to get my wits together.


End file.
